Streetwise
by nates
Summary: Well... not very good with summaries, but this is a AU fic, where Harry ran away from the Dursleys and is living on the streets of London. As the story develops, Harry will discover his magical abilities, he meets Sirius who escapes from Azkaban, & Volde
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Hmm. well what can I say, this is my first fiction so go easy on me, not that I'm searching for an excuse or anything. Well, just try to be open minded!!!! ^ ~ ^  
  
Disclaimer: All characters except these you don't recognize belong to the fab JK Rowlings, the plot belongs to me.I think!!! (  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Harry felt cold, he could feel the cool breeze seeping through the thin blankets, chilling him to the bone. He sighed, and pulled the thin sheet tighter around his shoulders, focusing with all his might on fire, on a blazing fireplace dispensing warmth. In his mind's eye, he could see himself next to the roaring fire on a soft, comfy armchair, amongst various cushions, all in scarlet and gold, asleep. The Harry in this world was relaxed, calm and happy, it seemed like there wasn't a single worry in his life.oh how he envied this Harry. Feeling warmer from his 'vision', Harry reluctantly opened his eyes. It was still dark and the streets were deserted, however he knew that it was already morning, and the sun would be due out in about an hour, and with the sun, the rush would begin. He knew he should leave before the rush, or else the patrols would catch him again. Harry shuddered at the memory: it was about two months ago when an officer had came up to him and took him to the social services center where there had been a wannabe shrink counseling him, asking him unwelcome questions and just plain talking to him. Harry had slowly let down his pretense and had almost begun to enjoy talking to the stranger when the phone rang. Whatever the stranger was saying at first Harry didn't know, and he didn't care, however when he had heard the words 'Vernon and Petunia Dursley', Harry had bolted at once.  
  
The Dursleys. oh how he had hated them, he had no idea how he had even managed to live with them for as long as he had, but that day, on his 10th birthday, after uncle Vernon had given him his daily beating and when aunt Petunia had successfully made him feel like a dirty, useless piece of shit because he had pushed Dudley for giving him a black eye.he had simply snapped. Without hesitation, Harry had sprinted out of the Dursleys' house without a backwards glance. And to this day, as hard as life was, and as hungry and cold as he was, Harry never regretted for one second for leaving the Dursleys. Smiling, Harry got up, stuffing his thin blanket in his oversized coat pocket. It was a new day, and the sky guaranteed the day ahead to be one that is warm and sunny.  
  
* * *  
  
Stumbling into the warehouse, Harry looked around. Nope, still not a shadow in sight, the abandoned building was cold and damp, the only sound was Harry's soft footsteps echoing through the deserted warehouse. Harry was puzzled, he knew that his friends wouldn't move locations without telling him about it, plus they would wait for him before starting their daily activities. What was going on? Could something have happened to them? Could the patrols have taken them all away? Harry bit his lip, none of his friends seemed the type to be controlled by adults, they were just. well, uncontrollable. It was hard to imagine them coping with life in a family, in a house, going to school each day, doing homework, eating meals at the dinner table. They would suffer so much! Well he wasn't going to stand around while they are forced to go to orphanages, or worse, foster homes. Harry turned around and made his way to the entrance, he didn't know how but he did know that he'd have to think of something fast if he wanted to rescue them! He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't realize the figures that suddenly popped out in front of him. In fact he kept on walking until he nearly had a heart attack when the figures collectively shouted out: 'SURPRISE!'  
  
'Wh..what?' Harry managed after he had recovered from the shock. 'Oh Harry, you didn't think that we'd forget about your birthday did you? You know it's not everyday you turn 12!' Harry felt numb, it was his birthday, how could he have forgotten? He looked around at his friends, they all had stupid grins pasted on their faces, looking at him expectantly. Harry was the baby of the group, the others were all at least three years older, because of this they tended to be a little protective of Harry, treating him like a little brother or, sometimes when their parental instincts kick in, their child.  
  
'Well aren't you going to open your presents Harry?' Startled, Harry grinned, presents, that was a foreign word in Harry's world, he couldn't remember ever getting a birthday present. His birthdays with the Dursleys were ignored, and Harry hadn't bothered to remind them, at first he used to get upset, but soon he learnt to be quiet and just live with it. His eleventh birthday was a quiet little celebration by him self, he had saved up a few measly pounds from his various jobs to buy a plain cupcake, a stand in for a birthday cake. Harry couldn't remember his first birthday, his only birthday spent with his parents, so in his memory his twelfth birthday was the best he'd ever had.  
  
Still grinning, Harry felt a bit shy as he reached for his first present, wrapped in a piece of newspaper, it was a present from Goose. Goose was like a big brother to him, he was extremely street wise and always had some sort of advice for Harry, about all aspects of life. True, most times his advice were made up and didn't exactly come from experiences in real life, but they were always good for a laugh anyway. Inside the newspaper wrapping was a beautifully carved eagle, about to take flight. Each detail was given immense attention; the ornament didn't seem to have any flaws at all. At the corner of the wing, there was a G carved into the wood. 'Wow.Goose, this is magnificent, did you really carve this?' Goose nodded, he looked slightly embarrassed at the attention the eagle was attracting. 'Um.I really had no idea what to get you Harry, this isn't really practical but I hope you like it anyway'.  
  
'Time for my present now.come on Harry, open it!' Goose rolled his eyes, Harry laughed, Thee was jumping up and down, shaking in anticipation as Harry began to open her present. She, though nearly 17, acted 7 most of the time, however when she did become serious, she can be quiet intimidating. Inside the neatly wrapped package was a beautiful stone, it was speckled black but when it was held to the light the stone would become almost transparent, the inside smoky and mysterious. 'Isn't it beautiful Harry? I found it on the streets a couple weeks ago, and thought who better to give it to than Harry.you know it reminds me lots of you. Very mysterious and more than what meets the eye!' Harry couldn't help but blush at this, he had never told his friends about the Dursleys, he'd always told them a fictional story about his past. He couldn't help but feel ashamed about the beatings, he wanted to forget about it all, and so he had adopted a similar story to the rest of the kids. That he was tired of adults controlling him, he wanted to be independent, so he ran away to make his own life.  
  
'Well Harry, I guess my present is lucky last huh?' Grace, Harry felt closest to her than to either Thee or Goose, she, despite her name was actually very harsh and violent and constantly put on a 'wha-da-ya-want' face around strangers, and people whom she disliked. It was not until Harry got to know her, did he realize the real Grace, a very kind and motherly girl who was very realistic and practical. Grace had given him a blanket, hand sewn by her self. Harry gaped, he couldn't help himself, the material was thick and warm, definitely didn't look second hand. Grace worked, but still money was hard, after food and other basic living expenses, there was usually none to spare. Harry immediately felt guilty, it was all for him, Grace had saved up every cent, probably deprived herself of food half the time, just for him, Harry Potter, the boy nobody cared about, the boy whom the Dursleys had convinced everybody, Harry included, was useless and good for nothing. Harry could feel his eyes clouding over, he didn't want to cry, he was 12 now for goodness sakes, he was a man now, and men don't cry. Blinking back tears, Harry smiled at Grace, and silently said 'thank you' with his eyes. It was then that Harry Potter felt, for the first time as long as he could remember, that he was the luckiest boy in the world.  
  
  
  
A/N: Yes, yes I know so far there is no plot development. But don't worry by next chapter there will be some magical movement, hopefully! Hmmm. my first fanfic, now I can see that writing it can be a bit addictive. With this first chapter I wasn't really sure how long it needed to be. How long are the chapters usually anyway? Also, I had no idea how many breaks to put in the middle, you know indents. I didn't want this story to turn out all squashed, but if it does I'm sorry, I guess it all comes with experience (.  
  
Well hopefully next chapter Sirius will make a appearance, maybe Remus as well, don't worry Padfoot and Moony fans, they'll most likely be main characters in this fic, cos I'm just totally obsessed with them and Harry and James. Hehehehe. ^_^  
  
All I can say now is read and review, but most of you probably won't listen but just remember I will haunt you.! I am quiet evil aren't I? * rolls eyes *  
  
Until next time  
  
~blizzard~ 


	2. Chapter 2 not very creative am i?

Author's Notes: I am so sorry guys.can you find it in your hearts to forgive me? I don't have any excuses.except one stupid and pathetic one.I had writer's block. Yep you heard me, must be a record getting writer's block after the first chapter! Thank you for all your WONDERFUL reviews, you guys are great.total legends in my book!!! ^_^ I have replied to all of them/in the process of replying to all of them on www.chocolatgypsy.blogspot.com Well hope this chapter is okay and please read and review.honest opinions please!  
  
Disclaimer: Most unfortunately I don't yet own Harry Potter.and I'm making no money whatsoever from this story. Please don't sue me, I'm just a poor student obsessed with JKR's wonderful stories!  
  
Note: "blah" is speech whilst 'blah' is thought.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The sun was up, shining down through the mist that engulfed the city. Kings Cross Station was per usual filled with people rushing to and fro to work.for at that hour they were late. Many.despite the sleep in, still carried headaches from the weekend that just passed. Each were in their own worlds, completely ignorant to their surroundings, which is probably the reason why no body noticed a certain, highly dangerous, escaped convict in their midst.by the name of Sirius Black.  
  
Sirius sighed; he had been out for 2 years now, leading a life on the run, merely loitering for the last couple of months. Some days he felt like he had no purpose to live anymore, in Azkaban at least he still had the comfort of knowing that Harry was safe and would be soon attending Hogwarts.when he had first escaped he had held the hope of a new beginning, of at least redeeming some of his guilt through Harry. Then when Harry had gone missing, Sirius had had confidence in finding him, and maybe even make a new life with Harry away from the magical world, away from the old crowd, maybe even live in America, the land of dreams and new beginnings.  
  
Sirius had looked for Harry around London, he had searched all over the world, but his efforts were in vain, as days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, there were still no sign of Harry, his hopes and dreams had slowly evaporated.he has nearly lost the little hope that he has ever had.  
  
It was time to face the truth, Harry was gone, probably dea. no he couldn't bring himself to admit it, maybe by not admitting it, Harry still might have a chance. No.he refused to give up hope on Harry just yet, he owed James and Lily that much at least.  
  
Damn Wormtail, if it wasn't for him, James and Lily might still be alive, and Harry.Harry would be safe. surrounded by his parents' love. But Sirius knew that it was not all the rat's fault, he was partly to blame for James and Lily's death. If only he hadn't persuaded James to change secret keepers, if only he wasn't so bloody terrified of been tortured by the Death Eaters, if only he had trusted Remus! Yes. when it came down to it, it was all his fault. His fault that James and Lily are dead, his fault that Harry's life is now in question, his fault that Harry had to live with that horse faced woman and her lump of a husband, his fault for not noticing that Peter was the spy, the traitor, the backstabber.  
  
At the thought of Peter, Sirius felt his hands clench into fists, Wormtail .the bastard has probably returned to serve Voldemort, again the pathetic servant of the resurrected Dark Lord.that is if You-Know-Who himself hadn't killed that incompetent traitor by now.  
  
Sirius closed his eyes and stood still, breathing deep, trying to calm himself, oblivious to the muggles rushing around him. . .who were all cursing, under their breathe at the strange man. For Sirius was indeed the epitome of strange to a muggle's eye, his hair was tangled, greasy, flecked with dandruff and full of lice, just begging to be washed. Having not seen a razor for eleven years, Sirius sported whiskers to rival Kris Kringle's except not white or as carefully trimmed. His skin yellow and waxy, and his cheeks smudged with dirt, he could easily be mistaken for just a commonplace beggar, yet somehow one hesitates to classify him as one. Maybe it was because of his weird garments, though dull and black in its colour, they were like.well the closest in a muggle's wardrobe they resemble would be a dress. Or maybe it was the fact that he wasn't begging for money or food, instead he was standing quite upright, almost proud, the posture of a person with great dignity and honor, definitely not that of a beggar's.  
  
Today.today was indeed a special day. It was exactly twelve years ago that Lily Potter gave birth to a baby boy, turning the once mischief-making mastermind, aka a marauder, James Potter, into a father, it was also exactly twelve years ago when Sirius was named the godfather of that child, Harry James Potter. As godfather Sirius legally had custody over Harry if, God forbid, anything might prevent James and Lily to fulfill their role as guardians to their son. Twelve years ago Sirius would never have thought that James and Lily might not be able to care for Harry, nor did he dare to think that he himself might not be able to care for the boy. Yet here he was twelve years later, on his godson's birthday, not even knowing if the boy has reached his 12th birthday. Oh dear God.. If only he had arrived earlier at the Dursley's, but no, he had to wait until Harry's birthday. Sirius remembered that day well, after the initial shock and some persuasion Vernon Dursley had admitted that Harry had left that morning, just before lunch. At first Sirius had thought that Harry would be back, for the Dursleys had said that he hadn't taken anything with him, surly that would be a sign that Harry hadn't left for good...right? Apparently not, for Sirius had prowled Privet Drive for a week afterwards in his animagus form, but there was no sign of Harry.  
  
Two years ago, when Harry had gone missing, the wizarding world was in turmoil, his 'timely' escape from Azkaban and Harry's disappearance meant that the wizarding world immediately came to the conclusion that he, Sirius Black, had finished the last Potter off. Sirius had felt sick when he had read the Daily Prophet, which was 2 weeks old already when it had reached Sirius.  
  
He sighed, damn the shallow minded magic folk, but he had always held the hope that at least a few would see reason, look beyond the surface and the assumed and at least listen to his side of the story. No..that wasn't right. Sirius really didn't give about what the wizarding population's opinion of him was, he didn't care about them, he only cared about two.his last true friend, he hoped dearly that he was still a friend, Remus Lupin and his godson, Harry Potter, for they were all that mattered to him now.they were the only ones that he had left. And he is going to make damn sure that he will not loose either of them.he had to at least try.  
  
~*~  
  
"Albus..its good to see you sir" It had been eleven years. Eleven long, lonely, and guilt filled years of solitary life, cut off from society.or at least the magical world. It felt weird been around people, socializing once again amongst the wizarding folk. Yet deep within him it felt right, he felt he belonged.or at least fitted in more than usual. Remus hadn't wanted to come back, he had planned to live his whole life in his little hut in the middle of nowhere..it had taken many months for Dumbledore to finally convince him to come back, furthermore to act as the 'temporary' Care of Magical Creatures professor. That had been the basis of his acceptance.Dumbledore had assured him that the position was only temporary, but somehow Remus knew that Dumbledore had only said it to persuade him.  
  
"Ah.Remus, welcome back. I trust that you are well?" Dumbledore though still bore the familiar twinkle in his eyes, had gotten on with his years.he was tired and he looked it too. First it was the disappearance of Harry, and then only a year later.the return of You-Know-Who, with the elixir of life to sustain him, he was more powerful than ever. He was attacking left, right and center yet the Ministry still refused to acknowledge his return, regarding the attacks as just a series of 'coincidences'. With the incompetence of the Ministry, Dumbledore had to lead the resistance by himself.  
  
Remus suspected that the real reason Dumbledore had called him back was precisely because of the Dark Lord's return. There were precious few who sided with Dumbledore, the staff of Hogwarts, the Weasleys and a few other parents and friends of the old headmaster. Remus was of course part of the resistance, he wanted to do everything he can for the cause.he wanted revenge. It was You-Know-Who's fault, everything was his fault, if it hadn't been for him Lily and James would still be here, Sirius wouldn't have turned traitor, Peter would still be alive and Harry..  
  
"Remus?" Remus startled, Dumbledore was studying him, concern was evident in his eyes. Remus shifted his gaze, he never liked it when Dumbledore used that gaze on him, it felt like he was looking right into his soul. "I'm sorry, its just that been at Hogwarts after all those years has brought back some.memories." "Ahh.and so they should.Remus, after dinner tonight there will be a meeting in my office about the recent events. If you would like to join." "I'll be there Albus." Remus interrupted before Dumbledore could finish, the Headmaster didn't need to ask, it was what Remus had came for. To bring down the Dark Lord, to bring the Death Eaters to justice, to ask Sirius why.and then to kill him.  
  
~*~  
  
"Run Harry!"  
  
Harry ran as fast as he could, he could see Thee off in the distance beckoning to him before she too turned to run. Closing his eyes, he urged himself with all the will power that he possessed to keep running, just a little further now. He could feel his whole body hurting, his legs, his abs, his chest, his throat. God, he was so thirsty, yet as dehydrated as he was he could still feel the sweat running down his face. Harry risked a glance back, evidently the man had given up on his chase, and Harry was thankful for that, he didn't think that he would be able to keep up much longer.not with an empty stomach anyhow. Glancing around he soon realized that he had lost sight of Thee; somehow he had ran blindly to a part of London that he has never been before. For a second he felt panic rising inside.it was not a good idea for a kid to be by himself on the streets of London after dark, and the sun was setting any minute now.  
  
'Stay calm Harry, just stay calm, all you need to do is go into a shop and ask for the directions to Kings Cross.that's all.' But there was only one problem; the stores were all closed. the music store, the clothes shop, the bookstore. and the Leaky Cauldron? The tiny pub looked battered and grimy, if Harry hadn't been looking at each shop intently for a sign of human presence he would surely have missed it. Harry gulped, truth be told he didn't really fancy the idea of entering the pub. it wasn't exactly what you'd call inviting. Yet he really didn't have a choice, if he wanted to get back to the others he needed to get moving. The others.they would be so worried by now and Thee, knowing her she would be having the biggest guilt trip by now. And besides he was starving. Determined to get back to the others, Harry took a deep breath and silently prayed for everything to be okay. then he pushed open the door.  
  
  
  
A/N: Hmm. I think I deteriorated in my writing skills.the style is totally underdeveloped and I haven't exactly moved on with the plot..yes, right now the plot is none existent! But there IS a plot! The writing seems a bit choppy, and Sirius' monologue is just blah.! I'm sorry guys, I'll try to improve next chapter kapish? I welcome any suggestions and I give you permission to yell at me if I don't update in a month's time.I know I know I am HORRIBLE at updates, that probably makes me evil and cruel in many of your books.and I'm sorry I really am! ::nods head:: Remember check for replies to your reviews on www.chocolatgypsy.blogspot.com if that way of doing it really annoys you then tell me in your review.  
  
I want to do this thing where I post a conundrum in each chapter and the person who answers it first I'll dedicate the next chapter to that person.unless you don't want the recognition! Okay so the conundrum this time is:  
  
In this town's post office all the mail, the packages, letters, whatever are all opened by the postman and undelivered unless there is a lock around it. Okay so there is this guy who is mailing his girlfriend a necklace.he locks/chains up the package and sends it. The girlfriend receives it unscathed. Now the question is how does his girlfriend get the necklace, i.e. open the lock?  
  
Some clues are: firstly the necklace is inside the box, the boyfriend and girlfriend can't meet up, the lock needs a key to open it, but the girlfriend doesn't have the key, the lock is eventually opened. The lock can't be picked. So how does she open it?  
  
If you have any questions email me.so enjoy! Oh, by the way the wording of this conundrum is by yours truly so if it doesn't make sense or isn't clear.I'm really sorry!  
  
Well until next time ^_^  
  
Hugs and Chocolate ~blizzard~  
  
p.s. apologies if the paragraphs are none existent! 


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